Vulnerability in openclaw (CVE-2026-53821)
Summary
Vulnerability in openclaw (CVE-2026-53821). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Exploitable via operator.admin. Mitigation: upgrade to 2026.5.18 or later.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
OpenClaw before 2026.5.18 accepts WebSocket client-declared operator scopes before binding to server-approved pairing or trusted-proxy authorization baseline. Unpaired or restricted trusted-proxy Control UI clients can obtain cached operator.admin authority on live WebSocket connections to execute admin-gated Gateway RPCs.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD GitHub Advisory
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-53821 has been found in openclaw.
Attackers can target a specific entry point like operator.admin over the network to misuse the product.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 8.8/10.
What to do: upgrade openclaw to 2026.5.18 or later.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "openclaw CVE-2026-53821" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-53821 (openclaw) — CWE-862 / CVSS v3 8.8
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / no user interaction
Attack surface: operator.admin
Patched: 2026.5.18 — apply immediately
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
A vulnerability (CWE-862) exists in openclaw. Attackers reach the vulnerable code path via operator.admin.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of openclaw. Attack surface: operator.admin.
Severity: High (CVSS 8.8/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to 2026.5.18.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Run grep -r 'openclaw' . against your dependency files (package-lock.json, requirements.txt, go.sum) to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
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1Identify exposure identify
grep -r 'openclaw' . | grep -v node_modulesリポジトリと本番環境の依存ファイル (package-lock.json / requirements.txt / go.sum / Gemfile.lock 等) で
openclawを grep し、稼働しているサービス・バージョンを把握する。 -
2Apply patch patch
Upgrade openclaw to 2026.5.18ステージング環境で 2026.5.18 に上げて回帰テスト → 本番反映。回帰テストはアプリの主要ハッピーパスを含めること。
-
3Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
Affected packages
References
- advisory github.com
- advisory vulncheck.com
- advisory nvd.nist.gov
- advisory github.com
- package github.com
- web github.com